The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-10-05
HOW WASHINGTON DIED.
Medical Men Assert that He Was BIed an
BHsteTe ed to Death.

Blistere ed to Death.
Washington dispatch 10 New York
World: Thirty members of the late Medi-
cal Congress met in social way after the
regular business of the day, in the parlor
OF guest at one of the hotels. These dele
gates were elderly medical men of the So
called old school OF doctors, but presenting
branch of the medical profession;
some of them had been pro-
fessors in medical colleges many
years ago. These old friends in CONVEX
sstional way compared notes relative to
the radical changes which have taken
place in the methods Of treatment of dis
eases, The large and frequent doses OF cal
omel ane other powerful remedies admin
istered to their patients in the practice of
forty and fifty years ago, compared with
the almost infinItesimal doses now pre-.
scTibed, and the now total abandonment
of some remedies and modes of treatment
which were in general practice then.
The Old-time doctor and even the physI-
clan of but recent date formerly carried in
his coat-pocket formidable lance, the
sight of which frightened his nervous pa
tent. With that instrument he proceeded
by way of preliminary preparation for a
course of medicine" to open large vein
in the sick PERSONS arm and therefrom
draw from q pint to a quart of blood.
Then followed the inevitable prescription
of fifteen to twenty grains of calomel, ac-
companied by bottle of castor oil, and
and the patient would be "laid up" there
after for some days engaged in recovering
from his heroic medical treatment. Now
pblebotomy or blOod-letting has been al
most wholly abandoned. Calomel when
prescribed at all is given in half-grain
doses at intervals of three or four hours,
and so on to the end of the list of old pop
ular remedies.
One of the physicians present, pursuing
this theme, astonished his hearers by as
serting that the Father of His Country"
General George Washington, did not die
natural death, but was killed by his doc
tors. Here several voices simultaneously
exclaimed:
"That's libel Where is your evil
dencer Thereupon the supposed libeler
produced from a Georgetown, d. O., news.
paper, printed in 1893, an account of the
Illness, death and burial of Gen. Washing.
ton, together with the certificate of the
physicians, Drs. Craik and Dick, who
| treated the illustrious patient in his last
| illness. The certificates of these physicians,
who resided about fifteen miles from
| Georgetown, showed that Gen. Was hi 1g-
| ton, having been exposed to rain on FIJI
| day, December 10 in the night of that DAY
wSs attacked with chills. accompanied
with pain IN the upper and fore part of the
throat, coughing, q difficult rather than
| painful swallowing, succeeded by fever
| and quick and laborious respiration.
"Gen. Washington" gays the account,
| regarding the attack as only severe cold,
would not send for physician, but called
! in one of his servants, bleed3r, so called,
who took from the sick mans arm nearly
| pint Of blood, which Was goodly por-
tien of the vigorous, healthy life of the
| patient. The patient was about in that
| cor dition until the arrival of his physi-
| clans at 10 o'clock The next morniDg, Sat-
| urdsy, when the doctors proceeded TO re-
| within about four hours took other two
! pints or quarts OF blood. La the Interim
! were employed two copious bleedings, a
| blister was applied to the psrts affected,
two moderate doses of calomel were given,
succeeded by repeated doses of tartar emetic
amounting 10 five or six grslns, with no
ether effect than coPions discharge from
| the bowels"
This was treatment of the heroic kind"
lnterjected the alleged libeler, (which was
enough TO kill any ordinary well msa, and
| Ii was evidently doing the business for the
| general, for the learned doctors add:
1.-The powers of life seemed now mani
testify yielding to the force of the disorder.
| BIisters were applied to the extremities,
| LOReLlET VIII a Oh DIdu duQ VIZ
egar to the throat. Speaking, which was
painful from the beginning, now becams
| almost impracticable. Respiration gre "
more and more contracted and imperfect
until 11:30 o'clock on Saturday night,
when. retaining the possession of his intel
lect, he expired.without struggle,
mo WONDER" remarked the alleged
libeler. "How could he struggle after
losing ali the blood in his body, with huge
blisttrs aiding in the depletion of vital
strength, and his stomach crammed with
calonel and tartar emetic so that there
| was no room for food or fluids, which he
should have bad, to keep up the systemP
Poor man, how he must have suffered;
and be couldn't make them stop their tor
tnTe, although he seems to have tried to
do SO. But the medical men certify that
! after repeated efforts to be understood, he
! succeeded in expressing desire that he
might be permitted to die without inter-
| ruption. There, my brother doctors. are
| you convinced? Wasn't that a clear case
! Of mslpractice2"
mo, sir" humorously responded q
brother doctor. THAT was in accordance
with the treatment adopted by that emil
nent physician DR.. SaDgrado, who had a
| large practice in Spain over two hundred
| yesrs ago, which practice, impaired by
The renowned SangradO to his apt student
Gil Blas, consisted in cOpious bleeding
and keeping the patients body filled With
bot wster."